‘Men in Black’ star Will Smith was asked on French TV about whether he would be willing to pay more taxes, especially at the levels proposed by French President Hollande. Wait until you hear what Smith said about paying a 75% income tax. Alfonzo Rachel tells Will Smith why higher taxes are not good for the government or the poor.

In this short video Professor Antony Davies, Duquesne University, explains why arguing about taxing the rich is a waste of time and diverts our attention from the real issue, spending.

Here are the points that Professor Antony Davies makes.

Can we balance the budget by taxing the rich?

In 2009, the richest Americans (top 5%) paid approximately 29% of their income in taxes. The poorest Americans (bottom 20%) paid -1% of their income in taxes (paid nothing and received money back.) The average for 95% of Americans is 10.8% [...]

This week’s lesson explains why we shouldn’t raise tax rates or “soak the rich.” It counters the class warfare being waged by the current administration. To start out, go to the Three Reasons section, where I provide three short videos on the following topics:

Taxing the rich discourages investment and will cause tax revenues to fall. Taxing the rich discourages spending. If we taxed the rich at 100%, it would not reduce the deficit.

Arthur B. Laffer, Stephen Moore, and Jonathan Williams in the latest publication of Rich States Poor States1 by the American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec.org) provide the 10 Golden Rules of Effective Taxation:

When you tax something more you get less of it, and when you tax something less you get more of it. Individuals work and produce goods and services to earn money for present or future consumption. Taxes create a wedge between the cost of working and the rewards from working. An increase in tax rates [...]

The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs is one of the most famous of Aesop’s fables. The cottager and his wife kill the goose to get the great lump of gold they think is inside. However, they find it is no different than any other goose. Their greed deprived them of a future steady income. So it is with the notion that we must tax the rich to pay for our out-of-control spending.